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Art school grads use tech to tackle big issues
Brooklyn's Pratt Institute might be well known for its engineering and arts courses, but for students in its industrial design program, it's about more than making something pretty and earning a degree. The ethos of the curriculum includes "trying to solve problems of poverty, hunger, energy, health, and other troubling issues of the disadvantaged world population by design." Indeed, that philosophy was on full display at this year's graduate student showcase.
Goat-inspired prosthetic leg will give rock climbers better footing
For all the neural-controlled, bluetooth-enabled and sport-specific prosthetics humanity has designed over the years, one thing remains constant: most of of them are lousy for climbing rock faces. Design student Kai Lin learned this while researching artificial limbs in a prosthetic-design class at Pratt Institute -- traditional leg prosthetics don't have enough grip or articulation to facilitate effective climbing. Lin's solution to the problem is almost elegant in its simplicity. He designed a prosthetic leg inspired by one of nature's best rock climbers: the mountain goat.
